This invention relates to a terminal for a subscriber of a telecommunications network having input and output means as well as a processor which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her. This invention also relates well as to an authorization card for the subscriber of such a telecommunications network, to a telecommunications network comprising such a terminal, and to a method of modifying a service profile assigned to such a subscriber.
Patent Specification DE 42 42 151 discloses a terminal for a subscriber of a wireless telecommunications network, namely a mobile station for the subscriber of a mobile radio network. The terminal has input and output means, namely a keypad and a liquid crystal display. It further includes data processing means for processing authentication parameters which are stored on a so-called subscriber identity module. The subscriber identity module is a chip card with a data memory which is insertable into the terminal. This means that the terminal has a processor (data processing means) which accesses the data memory of the chip card. The data memory contains data (authentication parameters) which are verified during subscriber authentication. The terminal also has a transmit section which during mobile location registration, i.e., during call establishment, sends the data stored on the chip card to the telecommunications network (mobile radio network) for subscriber authentication. A check is then made to determine whether the subscriber is authorized to use the telecommunications network. Accordingly, the chip card may also be referred to as an authorization card. The terminal and the telecommunications network disclosed in DE 42 42 151 are based on the mobile radio standard xe2x80x9cGSMxe2x80x9d (Global System for Mobile Communications).
The GSM network is described by J. Kedaj and F. Joussen in the xe2x80x9cHandbuch der mobilen Sprach-, Text-und Datenkommunikationxe2x80x9d, Vol. 1, Chap. 4. The handbook was published by the Neue Mediengesellschaft Ulm GmbH, Germany, under ISDN No. 3-923759-16-9. In the updated edition of November 1996, the structure of a service profile assigned to the subscriber is described in Vol. 1, Chap. 4, Section 4.1.5., pages 1-10. Accordingly, a service profile comprises the following types of services: telecommunications services, teleservices, bearer services, and supplementary services. As examples of teleservices, the transmission of speech (telephony), short messages, or facsimile messages is mentioned. Supplementary services are, for example, conference services, call forwarding, or the formation of closed user groups. On pages 31-50 of Section 4.1.5 it is described that the data for the service profile are stored in the so-called home location register. The home location register is a database within the mobile radio network and is managed by the service provider. Accordingly, the service profile can be modified only by the service provider. If the subscriber wants information on his or her service profile, he or she must seek such information from the service provider. In the GSM network, it is also possible to have individual service profile data, e.g., data about whether short message service has been activated, displayed at the terminal. These data must be transmitted from the home location register to the terminal, whereby the signaling load in the mobile radio network increases.
From DE-A-3428237 it is known that the subscriber can also be assigned a service profile in wireline telecommunications networks. DE-A-3428237 describes a wireline telecommunications network, namely an integrated services digital network (ISDN), in which the subscriber can use, besides the conventional telephone service, various communication services such as facsimile, telex, or videotex. A terminal is described into which different chip cards are insertable for upgrading the terminal to support the different communication services. The subscriber can have the available communication services displayed to him or her on a display of the terminal, i.e., the subscriber has access to information on his or her service profile. Each chip card makes possible a given communication service. It is also described that a chip card makes possible several communication services. Accordingly, DE-A-3428237 discloses a terminal which can be upgraded to support several communication services by insertion of at least one chip card. To accomplish this, however, the control software for implementing these communication services must be stored in the chip card itself. Therefore, the chip card must contain control data which must be transferred via the terminal to the telecommunications network, so that the communication services can be implemented. For the implementation of the communication services, the control data are commonly processed by the sequence control system in the exchange according to a predetermined protocol. The chip card thus contains data, namely the control data for the sequence control, which must be accessed by the telecommunications network several times. This results in a high signaling load on the link between the terminal and the telecommunications network, which slows down the implementation of the communication services.
It is an object of the invention to provide a terminal for a telecommunications network which permits simple access by the subscriber to information on his or her service profile and fast implementation of communication services.
Further, a telecommunications network equipped with such terminals, a subscriber authorization card for insertion into these terminals, and a method of modifying a service profile assigned to the subscriber are to be provided.
The object is attained by a terminal for a subscriber of a telecommunications network, having input and output means as well as a processor connected to the input and output means which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her, wherein the data memory is an erasable memory which holds data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber, and that the processor controls the input and output means in such a way that the subscriber can have the data for the service profile output to him or her and modify the data.
The object is also achieved by a telecommunications network comprising terminals for subscribers each having input and output means as well as a processor connected to the input and output means which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her, wherein the data memory is an erasable memory which holds data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber, and that the processor controls the input and output means in such a way that the subscriber can have the data for the service profile output to him or her and modify the data.
This object is still further achieved by an authorization card for a subscriber of a telecommunications network, for insertion into a terminal comprising a card reader, with a data memory disposed on the authorization card, which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her, and wherein the data memory is an erasable memory which holds modifiable data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber.
The object is also achieved by a method of modifying data for a service profile assigned to a subscriber of a telecommunications network wherein the subscriber operates a terminal having input and output means as well as a processor which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her, having the following steps: storing the data for the service profile in the data memory; by operating the input means, requesting the output of at least part of the data for the service profile; reading the requested data for the service profile from the data memory and outputting them on the output means; requesting the subscriber through the output means to specify the service profile data to be modified; sending the data to be modified to the telecommunications network; at least checking in the telecommunications network whether the modification of the service profile is technically feasible; if the modification is feasible, storing the modified data in a database of the telecommunications network and sending a confirmation of the modification to the terminal; and after receipt of the confirmation, writing the modified data into the data memory.
According to the invention, a terminal for a subscriber of a telecommunications network is provided having input and output means and a processor connected to these input and output means which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her. The data memory is an erasable memory which holds data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber. The processor controls the input and output means in such a way that the subscriber can modify the service profile data and have the service profile data output.
This enables the subscriber to interact with the terminal so as to retrieve information on his or her service profile and modify the service profile. The service profile data are stored in the data memory, which is inserted into the terminal. The control data for the sequence control, however, are stored in the terminal itself or preferably in the telecommunications network. This significantly reduces the signaling load on the link between the terminal and the telecommunications network.
The authorization card proposed is an authorization card for a subscriber of a telecommunications network which is designed to be inserted into a terminal having a card reader and contains a data memory, and which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her. The data memory is an erasable memory which holds modifiable data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber.
The telecommunications network proposed comprises the terminals according to the invention, i.e., subscriber terminals each having input and output means as well as a processor connected to these input and output means which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her. The data memory is an erasable memory which holds data for a service profile assigned to the subscriber, and the processor controls the input and output means so that the subscriber can modify the service profile data and have the service profile data displayed to him or her.
The proposed method is a method of modifying data for a service profile assigned to a subscriber of a telecommunications network wherein the subscriber operates a terminal having input and output means as well as a processor connected to these input and output means which accesses a data memory which the subscriber can remove from the terminal and carry with him or her. The method comprises the following steps: (1) storing the data for the service profile in the data memory; (2) by operating the input means, requesting the output of at least part of the data for the service profile; (3) reading the requested data for the service profile from the data memory and outputting the service profile data on the output means; (4) requesting the subscriber through the output means to specify the service profile data to be modified; (5) sending the data to be modified to the telecommunications network; (6) at least checking in the telecommunications network whether the modification of the service profile is technically feasible; (7) if the modification is feasible, storing the modified data in a database of the telecommunications network and sending a confirmation of the modification to the terminal; and (8) after receipt of the confirmation, writing the modified data into the data memory.
Particularly advantageously, the data memory is disposed on an authorization card on which the identity of the subscriber is stored, and the terminal includes a card reader which is connected to the processor and receives the authorization card for reading from and writing into the data memory, with the terminal preferably being a mobile station and the telecommunications network preferably being a mobile radio network. Thus, the subscriber only needs to insert his or her authorization card into the terminal to retrieve and modify his or her service profile. It is also particularly advantageous if the output means is a visual output means which displays the service profile data, or if the input and output means are voice input and voice output means, with the processor controlling a voice-controlled interrogation of the subscriber, asking for instructions for and modification of the service profile data. The subscriber thus can have the data either displayed to him or her or output in the form of speech as confirmation that the data have been modified.
The telecommunications network advantageously comprises at least one database in which copies of the service profile data stored in the data memories are stored. On the one hand, this is necessary to enable access by the service provider to the service profile, and on the other hand, the signaling load on the link between the terminal and the telecommunications network is thus further reduced. If the service provider modifies data of the service profile in the database of the telecommunications network, the data on the authorization card must also be modified. The database is preferably the so-called home location register.